Jia Yangqing Leaves NVIDIA, Launches Autonomous AI Startup Intent Lab

Dr. Jia Yangqing, an expert in open-source technology and AI frameworks, has left NVIDIA after a one-year stint as Vice President of Systems Software. He was hired by Hyperbolic, a GPU cloud provider, shortly before announcing his departure from NVIDIA.

The reasons for his departure are complex and rooted in the tension between NVIDIA's business model and Jia Yangqing's commitment to open-source technology.

When Lepton AI, Jia Yangqing's previous startup, was acquired by NVIDIA for $700 million in April 2025, it was seen as a win-win deal. However, NVIDIA's more closed product management system clashed with Lepton AI's philosophy of 'native Python, out-of-the-box.'

The acquisition also included a promise to open-source the Lepton core platform by 2026, but this initiative was eventually rejected due to concerns about weakening their own hardware moat.

Jia Yangqing's new venture, Intent Lab, is focused on autonomous AI software engineering. The company has already showcased three early achievements: the fastest GLM 5.2 inference engine, a database engine generated from a single sentence, and a file system with formal verification.